Harcourt Fenton Mudd
Harcourt Fenton "Harry" Mudd was a notorious con artist encountered on numerous occasions by the crew of the . Mudd's interstellar exploits began when he deserted his nagging wife, Stella, on Earth sometime in the mid-23rd century, and became a peripatetic grifter who roamed through the galaxy practicing various cons, schemes and scams -- not always successfully. By 2266, Mudd had already been convicted of smuggling (receiving a suspended sentence), transporting stolen goods, and purchasing a space vessel using counterfeit currency. For these last two crimes, Mudd was sentenced to undergo psychiatric treatment, the effectiveness of which was officially disputed. He held a Master's License permitting him to legally operate a spacecraft, but this license was revoked on stardate 1116.4 for operating stolen spacecraft and transporting illegal goods. In 2266 Mudd, using the illegal Venus drug, attempted to sell Eve McHuron, Ruth Bonaventure and Magda Kovacs to a group of lithium miners led by Ben Childress on Rigel XII. The drug gave the impression that the three women were beautiful, when in fact they were not. Childress and the other miners married the women anyway, as they were more interested in companionship and the benefits that having three practical, intelligent women around could provide, and the women were happy to escape their previously lonely existence. However, criminal charges were pressed against Mudd for his actions and he spent at least some time in jail. ( ) Somehow though, Mudd soon escaped. He then promptly began to sell the plans for alien technologies to various worlds -- without bothering to pay any royalties to the actual off-world patent holders. This ended when an attempt to sell a Vulcan technology to the inhabitants of Deneb V backfired. The transaction was unmasked as a hoax when the Denebians actually contacted Vulcan to ensure that Mudd had the rights to sell the technology in question... which, of course, he didn't. The penalty for fraud on Deneb V is death. However, Mudd managed to 'borrow' a spaceship and escape before the sentence could be carried out. He ended up fleeing to a previously uncharted planet, one that was populated entirely by androids who were interested in studying Mudd as a specimen of Humanity. This meant that while the androids attended to his every need, and even made him the titular ruler of the planet (later named Mudd in his honor), Mudd was not allowed to leave. Mudd then attempted to broker a deal where he would be allowed to escape, if he provided the androids with other prime Human specimens to study. Therefore in 2268, Mudd identified the starship Enterprise to the androids as a likely source of exceptional examples of Humanity. Subsequently the android known as Norman, posing as a member of the Enterprise crew, successfully took control of the ship and took it to Planet Mudd. The crew of the Enterprise, however, was able to escape captivity by identifying Norman as the control for all of the planet's androids. The crew proceeded to confuse Norman with illogical behavior, causing him to break down. Mudd was left behind on the planet, with a number of android replicas of his shrill wife Stella for company. ( ) Eventually, Harry Mudd stole another spaceship and escaped the androids' planet in 2269. He traveled to planet Ilyra VI and "sold" Starfleet Academy to its inhabitants. Mudd then used the proceeds of that con to travel to Sirius IX where he discovered a love potion crystal that he sold to over a thousand of the planet's inhabitants. Unfortunately, the buyers suffered allergic reactions to the crystals, and Mudd was forced to flee to mining planet Motherlode, where he also tried to sell the love potion drug. Once again, however, he encountered the crew of the Enterprise and was captured by Captain Kirk and Spock. Mudd was incarcerated in the brig, where he gave the love potion to Nurse Chapel as a gift. She then took the potion to Spock, but found that it did not take effect immediately; as a Vulcan, the effects of the drug took longer. Later, the drug did affect him, and Spock fell in love with Nurse Chapel. Fortunately the drug only had temporary effects. After yet another escape, Harry Mudd was again captured and sentenced to an indefinite period of rehabilitation therapy. ( ) Appendicies Appearances * ** ** * Background Harry Mudd was performed by actor Roger C. Carmel in the three episodes he appeared in. According to an early draft http://www.fastcopyinc.com/orionpress/articles/muddswomen.htm of "Mudd's Women", Harry was born on Antares Pi Four and was 47 years old. This would place his birth at about 2219, making him the same age as Doctor Richard Daystrom. During the early years of Star Trek: The Next Generation, attempts were made to write an episode of that series which would have featured Harry Mudd, revived from cryogenic suspension. Sadly, actor Roger C. Carmel died before the episode could be produced. Purportedly, that script was rewritten into the TNG episode . In Mudd's mug shot, he appears to be wearing the same clothing he wore when he was transported onto the Enterprise. And (as frequently happens on Star Trek) the picture is reversed. The Art of Star Trek, contains a photo of a raktajino bottle from Quark's bar which bears a label stating: "100% Colombian," "Made from the Green Hills of Earth" (a title of a short story by Robert Heinlein), and "Imported by Harcourt Mudd". If this is canonical and refers to the same Harcourt Mudd, it would indicate that Mudd entered into this business sometime after the Khitomer Accords and his original misadventures with the crew of the Enterprise because raktajino was unknown to the Federation in the 2260s as documented in the DS9 episode . Apocrypha Kirk encountered Mudd again in 2268 between the events of and . He was discovered on a salvage mission of a derelict ship of unknown alien origin. While aboard, he managed to accidentally sell weapon components to pirates, become infected with unknown alien drugs, nearly kill the Enterprise landing party with faulty equipment, and destroy a priceless archive of computer records. Following the conclusion of his investigation, Captain Kirk ordered Mudd to donate five of every artifact he finds to research. Also, Lt. Uhura arranged for Mudd to meet his "long lost wife" at a nearby starbase. (''Star Trek: 25th Anniversary'') Mudd later purchased a planet for its rare ores, but found, to his dismay, that the planet was actually a large egg for a space-faring creature. After it hatched Mudd sold the planet back to its original owner (who was unaware of the creature), but still ended up losing out as the ores were were then floating in space and were actually easier to mine. (US comic strip: "It's a Living") Other appearances include Where Sea Meets Sky, Mudd in Your Eye, "The Business, As Usual, During Altercations" (from Mudd's Angels), "Operation Con Game", "When You Wish Upon a Star...!", "Mudd's Magic!", "Mission: Muddled", "The Sky Above... The Mudd Below", and "Target: Mudd!". External link * Mudd, Harcourt de:Harcourt Fenton Mudd fr:Harcourt Fenton Mudd